agriculture, genetics & genomics

Comparing the genomes of modern pathogens with those of cryopreserved strains from several decades ago shed light on the evolution of coffee wilt disease outbreaks in Africa.

Whiteflies overcome a toxin in plants they eat through the use of the plant’s own genetic protection, likely ferried from plant to insect millions of years ago by a virus.

Hand weeding of fields spurred an interloper to evolve a rice-like appearance, researchers conclude.

The FDA recently cleared the way for marketing of the genetically modified product. Texas A&M’s Keerti Rathore speaks with The Scientist about why and how it was developed.

The unapproved crop is resistant to glyphosate in the weedkiller Roundup, but doesn’t seem to have entered the food supply.

Risks that pertain to all manner of new crops are often misattributed to genetic engineering. This distorts the public’s view of the technology.

While farmers have the green light to grow the genetically engineered plant, FDA approval is still needed before the seeds are sold as food.

It took an international group of researchers 13 years to crack the code and their efforts are already bearing fruit—one study has pinned down the genes responsible for wheat allergies and sensitivity.

By combining alleles involved in plant height, an agricultural scientist has grown the world’s tallest cornstalk, breaking his own record set in 2017.

In chapter 5, “The Technology Ticket,” contributing author Uris Baldos urges acceptance and investment in “precision agriculture” to provide for a burgeoning global population.

Among this year’s winners are a geneticist who revealed how plants respond to shade and a group of physicists who mapped the universe’s background radiation.

Plantings of non-GM refuges counter the development of resistance.

Using the mutagenic chemical N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, researchers confirm the role of a gene in a piglet deformity and identify potential models for human diseases. 

The green peach aphid can colonize new host plants with ease through rapid changes in gene expression.

Maize enthusiast Jason Karl aims to continue breaking his own records for the tallest corn plants ever grown.

A plant breeder succeeds in growing a huge maize plant thanks to a known mutation and a few environmental tricks.

A sequencing blitz on the tomato genome reveals the genes that contribute most to tastiness.

Tweaks to a transformation protocol in 1986 cemented the little plant's mighty role in plant genetics research.

Ancient DNA research suggests that there were two independent agricultural revolutions more than 10,000 years ago.